Scientists have long held the belief that the fracturing of the Earth's brittle outer shell into faults along the deep ocean's mountainous landscape occurs only during long periods when no magma has ...

One of the Earth's best-ever baby pictures reveals how crust forms at the biggest volcanic feature on the planet. The detailed look at molten magma beneath a mid-ocean ridge, one of the giant undersea ...

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides scientists with a powerful new tool for ...

Some of the highest quality images ever taken of the Earth's lower crust reveal that the upper and lower crust form in two distinctly different ways. A team led by researchers from Columbia University ...

The tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes ...

THE theory of ocean floor spreading requires that oceanic crust be generated at mid-ocean ridges. Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that the new crust is made largely of basalt and gabbro, ...